Page 48 of Little Bird (Advantage Play 3)

Smart, Kingston. Very smart.

Not sure how much I like being the scapegoat for him, but any soldier would take the fall for their family, and I’m not any different. I just hope he’ll start to recognize my loyalty as being absolute so that he finally gives me a chance with his sister.

I won’t hold my breath, though.

“Yeah,” I grunt. “I understand.”

“Good.”

The call disconnects. When I drop my arm back to my side, I see Stefan sauntering toward me. “Lou says the kid is at school today, so there shouldn’t be any issues. Who were you talking to?”

“Kingston. Seems we have a friend in our trunk that needs disposing of after this.”

Raising his chin in understanding, Stefan mutters, “Then let’s get this shit taken care of.”

And he walks past me, leaving me no choice but to follow.

* * *

As I rip a sheet off the king-sized bed, I notice Johnson’s blood splattered across a family photo resting on the nightstand.

“How old is his kid?” I ask Stefan while examining the picture. I’ve only seen him a handful of times, but it had always been under circumstances where he was scared out of his mind, and he looked like a little mouse who was about to shit his pants. In the photo, he looks like a regular kid with mussed up hair and a wide smile. It’s too bad his dad was a fucker who apparently liked to buy women on the side and needed to be disposed of. We couldn’t have him sniffing around for his fruit, now could we? Regardless, I hope he has better luck than I did growing up, but I’m not betting any money on it.

Stefan shrugs. “I think Lou said ten.”

Withholding my dry laughter, I toss the white sheet on top of the dead body strewn across the bedroom floor.

Of course, he is.

“Let’s wrap him up then get out of here. I’ll send a cleaning crew to wipe for prints, but I’m not sure we can do much about the soaked carpet.”

“Yeah, blood’s a bitch to get out,” I agree.

Smirking, Stefan quips, “Kingston and Diece both say the same thing.”

“That’s ‘cause they’ve done this a time or two.” I lift Johnson’s shoulder and tuck the sheet beneath the life-taking wound in the back of his skull to prevent any more blood from dripping all over the floor. Stefan gets on the opposite side, lifting his legs while I grip under his armpits.

Man, this asshole is heavy.

“So…how long have you been in the family?” I ask, making conversation.

“A while. I heard about the flashy party they’re throwing you, by the way. Usually, they only hold them for the bigwigs, or they wait until there’s a big enough group of soldiers being welcomed into the fold to justify the chaos. You nervous?”

With a shrug, I guide us out the bedroom door and down the stairs to the first floor. “I don’t know. Should I be?”

“Meh.” He mirrors my earlier movement and shrugs. “You’ll be fine. Just be careful who you talk to.”

“What do you mean?”

“Every man there is trying to marry off their daughter. If you’re caught looking at one for too long, or even offer a generic smile to the wrong, desperate girl, they’ll be all over you like white on rice trying to pawn themselves off.”

Grimacing, I glance over my shoulder to make sure I don’t run into anything as I walk down the stairs backward.

“I heard Kingston invited Regina,” Stefan continues.

Hearing her name amplifies the dull ache in my chest. “Yeah?”

“Yeah.”

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